yellow (remus lupin.)

thirty two.

THIRTY TWO.

Taking their weary steps out of the great hall, Cara and Stassie were officially finished with their NEWTS. They had done their absolute best, and had reached breaking point. Exhausted and drained, they were thankful the end had arrived when it did as the cracks were beginning to show in their motivation.

"Fuck." Cara sighed, taking in a deep breath of the May air. "What now?"

"Sleep for a thousand years. Then get so drunk we can't stand up." Stassie advised.

Oliver wasn't out too long after them, held back in the hall as they were dismissed alphabetically by surname. He gave them both a warmly reassuring hug, telling them he was proud of them both and that they had done well. They bid him farewell as he headed off to his final quidditch practice of the year. The boy lived and breathed quidditch, it was what kept him sane and alive. God knows how he would cope when he left school.

Heading towards the Gryffindor tower, the girls threw their arms around each other's shoulders, lazily striding in the right direction whilst soaking up the architecture. It hadn't quite dawned on them yet that they only had two weeks or so left in the school before they had to leave for the last time.

Anastasia had finally decided her path in life, having been offered a full time job in Honeydukes. Ambrosius and his wife were not getting any younger, and they wanted someone with enough love for the shop to help them run it, so they selected Stassie. She was ecstatic when she received the owl, almost bouncing off the walls.

Cara however, was different. She had no idea what she wanted out of life, and that frightened her. Muggle life was there waiting for her if she chose it, and she wouldn't be shy of job offers. Yet it seemed such a waste to go that way when she was so skilled in magic. Being an auror sounded like the most boring occupation on earth, and — with no offence to Anastasia — she didn't particularly want to work in any shop either. She wanted to live. She wanted to see things all over the world, fall in and out of love a hundred times, get in fights, go to parties, get high, get drunk, cry and laugh all at once. Having repeatedly told herself she would cross the bridge of careers when getting to it, she suddenly seemed to be stood on the edge of the bridge without being able to see.

"Shall we go to that Hufflepuff party later?" Stassie asked, the need to be drunk dawning on her.

"Yes please." Cara sighed in relief. "I need to wind down."

"Have you got any alcohol left?" She added.

"Shit!" Cara stopped them walking. "I left it in Remus's office."

The image of her bottle of firewhiskey sat on his coffee table was imprinted into her head. She had brought it over to him the night before knowing how uptight and stressed he currently was. It didn't take much firewhiskey for the average wizard to get drunk, and they were soon sharing tipsy kisses.

"That's where you were then!" Stassie smiled. "I thought you'd been kidnapped or something."

The two began to head back on themselves in the direction of Remus's office.

"What were you even doing then with all that alcohol?" Stassie inquired.

"I was showing him muggle music and teaching him how to dance." Cara stifled a giggle.

What she had learnt from Remus last night was that he had no sense of rhythm, but was a large fan of the Prodigy and the Beastie Boys. It wasn't until the RnB songs came on that she found her back pressed against his chest, grinding on him as he kissed her neck. She almost melted on the spot when his hands landed on her waist, moving her around gently as they danced.